Day 1 Ski Season 2015-16
Arapahoe Basin Ski resort is tucked into Route 6 between i-70 and Keystone Resort. My first trip ever taking the pass and it was pitch dark out by the time we reached the mountain range so visibility was sup par. I think had we come up during the afternoon when it was still light out the amount of excitement I would hold in would be too great.
After a lovely meal and a walk around Breckenridge where we were staying Friday night, everyone was off to bed in a reasonable manner with snow falling on the walk home. Seeing snow fall and just the sheer amount of snow around Breckenridge on November 6th to someone from Ohio was completely awesome. This is where I may lose some readers, as time and time again one family member says I am nuts with my love for snow.
Our trip over to A-Basin from Breckenridge started around nine and we stopped at a little shop called The Pour House before Keystone to grab a tea and a bagel sandwich. After our crew got everything we needed to start the day we moved along up to the parking lot at A-Basin to enjoy the bluebird sky and eat our breakfast.
Arapahoe Basin is unique, different, and creates opportunity to the ski and snowboard communities. It doesn't hold your flagship mountain town feel like much larger resorts, or even some east coast resorts. A-Basin is plopped right in the middle of the mountain range in which an access road was built for hazardous materials to traverse instead of risking everyone traveling on i-70. It holds very small amount of space in a place where it competes with much larger resorts and holds it own!
The opportunity Arapahoe Basin creates for skiers and riders looking for that extremely early season itch or just not ready for summer to begin is wonderful. Yes there are lines, yes you have to wait for a chair if you come on a weekend, but the energy level around everyone suiting back up on their sticks and early season goggle tans push large smiles on everyone's faces. I only managed to get in a couple runs before our crew was ready to just sit down, catch up with everyone's lives and have a cold beer to start our Saturday.
Ending my first commute up from the front range to Summit County and the mountains, we snuck two runs on Loveland Pass before heading home. The early season snow and lack of coverage reminded me of my trip to telluride compared to other places in Summit Co.. The feeling that there wasn't marked runs or chair lifts to bring you back up was something I hadn't experienced while riding. The runs on the pass all funnel down to one area where everyone riding just shuttle each other back up the mountain, or hitch hike from other riders in the area.
